The present invention relates to a system for automatically inserting U-shaped heat transfer tubes (referred to as "U-tubes", hereinunder) into an equipment such a heat exchanger, boiler, cooler or the like.
U-tubes installed in an equipment of the kind mentioned above are usually supported by, for example, perforated partition plates. In inserting the U-tubes into the equipment, therefore, it is necessary to press-fit the tubes in alignment with the apertures in the supporting members such as partition plates, in order to eliminate any permanent strain of the U-tubes. In some cases, the U-tubes which have been inserted have to be withdrawn, due to a reason concerning the assembling process.
To meet there technical demands, hitherto, the insertion of U-tubes has to be made manually because no automatic apparatus has been developed yet for automatically grasping a U-tube, holding the U-tube in a horizontal posture, driving the U-tube into apertures of the supporting plate in such a manner as to avoid any damage and distortion of the U-tube and, as required, withdrawing the U-tubes from the supporting member. Thus, the insertion of the U-tubes has been made by manual work of skilled workers with much labour and cost.